Tag Archive for: baking

Bayou Bakery and Smoked Bacon Marmalade

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I came across Bayou Bakery  located in Washington, DC while searching for new recipes and places I want to visit, and I think a stop here on my yearly drive to New York this summer is going to be a must!!  Not only that, I think I need to own this cookbook DamGoodSweet – Desserts to Satisfy Your Sweet Tooth New Orleans Style by chef and owner David Guas.  I love the website for the bakery and especially this recipe for Bacon and Vidalia Onion Marmalade.  Sounds amazing!!  If anyone has been here- would love to hear your thoughts, and I can’t wait to go myself this summer!

Smoked Bacon & Vidalia Onion Marmalade

Yields: approximately 6 cups
Ingredients
1 1/2 pounds – Vidalia onions, medium diced or pulsed in food processor (approximately 5 onions)
1/2 cup – Apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon – Mustard seed
1/2 cup – Light brown sugar
1/4 cup – Steen’s cane syrup
2 to 3 strips each – Bacon (preferably Allan Benton’s Bacon)

Procedure

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Lay the strips of bacon onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and place inside the preheated oven.  Cook the bacon for approximately 20 to 25 minutes, until each strip is evenly crispy.  Remove the baking sheet with the bacon from the oven and drain off the rendered fat into a heat proof container (a coffee can works great for this).  Chop the bacon into small pieces and reserve.
Toast the mustard seeds in a dry pot on medium heat just until the seeds begin to dance and get slightly browned.  Add the vinegar and remaining ingredients into the pot with the seeds, including the chopped bacon.  Cover the pot and raise the temperature to medium high.  Allow the onions to sweat on the heat for approximately 20 minutes, stirring the pot a few times throughout.  After 20 minutes, remove the cover and continue to cook the ingredients on medium heat until most of the liquid is reduced and the onions are dark in color—approximately 45 minutes to one hour.

Marmalade lasts for 2 weeks in the refrigerator and for 3 months in the freezer (air tight container).

Easy Quiche

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I used to not like quiche.  Most likely the reason for this is that I thought all quiche contained spinach because when my mother made quiche it was spinach quiche.  I am still not a huge fan of cooked spinach- will eat it in my salad all day long.  I like it fresh.  Of course I have since had quiche that did not contain spinach, and it was quite tasty, but quiche is not something I ever think about making.  I was at dinner last night to celebrate a friend’s birthday, and she was given a Le Creuset tarte tatin dish as a present.  We were talking about all the things you could make in it, and quiche came up as an option.  So, this morning, I started looking at some quiche recipes.  While this one would not be made in a Le Creuset tarte tatin dish, I particularly like this easy mini quiche recipe- probably because it has a lot of cheese, and cheese is good.

Easy Mini Quiche

Ingredients:

12 slices bread
1 onion, grated
1/2 cup shredded Swiss cheese
1 cup milk
4 eggs
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 pinch black pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease 12 muffin tins.
Trim or cut bread into circles. Place circles in bottom of muffin tins. Distribute the onion and shredded cheese evenly between the muffin tins.
In a medium bowl, combine milk, eggs, mustard and pepper. Divide between the muffin tins.
Bake in preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a quiche comes out clean.

Deviled Easter Eggs

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There is probably a reason why bunnies and eggs have come to represent Easter, but I don’t know what it is.  I have seen some pretty funny comedy sketches talking about it though, so at least the randomness provides a lot of humor.  I am not a huge deviled egg fan- it is the texture of the white part that I really can’t get behind, but they seem like a great Easter recipe and actually a great thing to bring to a book club or pot luck any time.  We actually thought about having them passed at our wedding, but since I don’t really like them, we opted for the lamb (also very Eastery) and the trout.  Anyway, while looking for a good deviled egg recipe to share, I saw some where you can dye the eggs and have them really decorated for Easter, but since the white part of the egg is what freaks me out, having it dyed blue or pink or green was just really unappealing to me, so instead, here is a recipe for Bacon Cheddar Deviled Eggs.  Bacon and cheddar make everything better.

Bacon and Cheddar Deviled Eggs

Ingredients:

12 eggs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
4 slices bacon
2 tablespoons finely shredded Cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon mustard

Directions:

Place eggs in a saucepan, and cover with cold water. Bring water to a boil and immediately remove from heat. Cover, and let eggs stand in hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from hot water, and cool. To cool more quickly, rinse eggs under cold running water.
Meanwhile, place bacon in a large, deep skillet. Cook over medium-high heat until evenly brown. Alternatively, wrap bacon in paper towels and cook in the microwave for about 1 minute per slice. Crumble and set aside.
Peel the hard-cooked eggs, and cut in half lengthwise. Remove yolks to a small bowl. Mash egg yolks with mayonnaise, crumbled bacon and cheese. Stir in mustard. Fill egg white halves with the yolk mixture and refrigerate until serving.

Yummy Tastings

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This past Friday, Walker, Corby and I rode our bicycles over to Carolinas, a local restaurant that has been around forever.  My father’s office building is right across the street, and literally, he goes there every day for lunch.  And much to their enjoyment/chagrin, he has the same thing every day.  He orders a chopped Caesar salad and a small scoop of ice cream.  Chef Jill Mathias has tried desperately to get him to change things up a bit- maybe try kale instead of his usual romaine lettuce.   But he will not waiver because if you find something good, stick with it.  I think the whole thing is pretty funny, especially when Walker’s favorite dish there is salmon and risotto.  But, back to Friday- we went there for a tasting as Carolinas is doing some of the food for our wedding, and we pick some of the appetizers that will be served.  We ended up with a lamb medallion with a little creme fresh and capers, and a trout salad on brown bread.  They were both delicious- well I didn’t actually try the trout because I don’t like fish, but Corby said it was great as did Walker.  However, one of the things that we tried was goat cheese on their house baked ciabatta bread drizzled with honey and topped with a green.  It was really wonderful, and if we hadn’t already chosen a brie and fig appetizer, that definitely would have made the list.  It seems like such a simple concept which in fact it is, but I would not have thought to put it together.  I am going to try it for my next book club meeting.  I will obviously have to buy the bread instead of their house made stuff- but other than that, I think recreating it will be pretty simple. Here is a version of the recipe I found on www.sarcasticcooking.com.

Goat Cheese and Honey Appetizer

Ingredients:

1 French Baguette- sliced

1/3 cup of goat cheese

Honey

Fresh mint or basil

Directions:

Set the broiler on low to toast the slices of the baguette for just a few minutes until crisp.  Top each piece with desired amount of goat cheese and drizzle with honey.  Top with fresh herbs.

 

A Fresh Twist on Salsa

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I was at the grocery store yesterday with Walker, and he was lamenting the fact that they never have his favorite fruit- Saturn peaches of course.  I told him that they were not in season to which he responded, “Well let’s just go get ice cream then.”  Which actually made perfect sense to me, so that is what we did.  It got me thinking about what fruits are in season, and I had actually been over to my brother and sister-in-law’s house for dinner last weekend, and they served an amazing lemon pound cake with fresh strawberries they had picked that day out at Ambrose Farm.  The strawberries were delicious, and while you can get strawberries year round at the grocery store, they are always so much better when they are in season.  I started googling strawberry recipes and found this one for fruit salsa and cinnamon chips.  It looks like the perfect addition to spice up brunch, and you can change it up for whatever fruit is in season.

Fruit Salsa and Cinnamon Chips

Ingredients:

2 kiwis, peeled and diced
2 Golden Delicious apples – peeled, cored and diced
8 ounces raspberries
1 pound strawberries
2 tablespoons white sugar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3 tablespoons fruit preserves, any flavor
10 (10 inch) flour tortillas
butter flavored cooking spray
2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar

Directions:

In a large bowl, thoroughly mix kiwis, Golden Delicious apples, raspberries, strawberries, white sugar, brown sugar and fruit preserves. Cover and chill in the refrigerator at least 15 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Coat one side of each flour tortilla with butter flavored cooking spray. Cut into wedges and arrange in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Sprinkle wedges with desired amount of cinnamon sugar. Spray again with cooking spray.
Bake in the preheated oven 8 to 10 minutes. Repeat with any remaining tortilla wedges. Allow to cool approximately 15 minutes. Serve with chilled fruit mixture.

A Wonderful Weekend

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In addition to the Wine & Food Festival which kept Charleston in good eats all weekend, Corby and I got engaged!  Which now of course means I need suggestions on food and recipes to serve at the wedding.  Not one for long engagements, April 20th is the day- yes of this year.  I know most people focus on the dress, flowers, music, and of course the list- but we have all that done.  It might turn out to be a disaster, but I want to make our cake- this is what I am focused on.  While I have clearly made lots of cakes before and they have turned out well, decorating a cake- especially a wedding cake is not my great forte.  But I figure, as long as it tastes good, I can cover it with flowers and that should make it look pretty enough.  So onto a wedding cake recipe.  I found this recipe for a Butter Cake- what could be wrong with a Butter Cake?  My thought is to make two 9 inch cakes with a filling and then two 6 inch cakes with filling for a small 2 tier cake.  The filling that I want to try is a vanilla custard, and found a great recipe for that- see below.  And then of course, what kind of icing to use- I think butter cream to go with a butter cake of course!  I will be attempting to make a test cake this weekend with all of these recipes.  Stay tuned to see how it turns out, and clearly the picture is how I assume it will turn out!  Any suggestions, tips, etc are incredibly welcome!!  Should be a piece of cake right- haha!

Butter Cake

(from www.wilton.com)
Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups butter, room temperature

2 1/2 cups granulated sugar

5 eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

3/4 teaspoon no color almond extract

3 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray pans with vegetable pan spray, or use Cake Release.

In mixer bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Mix in vanilla and almond flavor. Mix flour with baking powder and salt. Add flour mixture alternately with milk, starting with the flour; mix well. Pour into prepared pans. (for me- two 9 inch pans and two 6 inch pans)

Bake the 6 inch pans for 25-30 minutes and the 9 inch pans for 30-35 minutes

Cool 10 minutes in pan. Loosen sides and remove. Cool completely before decorating.

Vanilla Custard Filling

(from www.wedding-cakes-for-you.com)

Ingredients:

2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons all purpose flour
pinch of salt
4 large egg yolks or 2 whole eggs
2 cups milk
1 vanilla bean or 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 Tablespoons unsalted butter

Directions:

On a piece of plastic wrap , or in a small bowl, combine the sugar, cornstarch, flour and salt. In a saucepan combine and whisk together the egg yolks and milk, or whole eggs if you are using them.

Gather the corners of the plastic wrap, or the bowl and pick up the starch mixture, pour it on top of the eggs and milk and whisk well to be sure that all of the cornstarch and flour are dissolved.Add the vanilla bean. (if using the extract add it at the end of the recipe.

Set the pan over moderate heat and cook the custard for about 12 minutes, until thickened and brought to a boil. To do this stir on and off for the first 5 minutes, then stir constantly for 7 minutes longer until the cream really thickens and reaches a boil.

Remove pan from the heat. The cream is done when smooth and thick enough to leave a clearly defined line when you draw your finger through the cream coating the back of the spoon.

Remove the vanilla bean, rinse it, and set it aside to re-use. If you are using extract instead of the bean add it now. Add the butter and whisk until melted and blended in.

Pour the cream through a sieve into a bowl. Stir in any additional flavoring if using it. To prevent a film from forming on top of the cream, press a piece of plastic wrap onto the surface. Cool cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Butter Cream Icing

(from www.smittenkitchen.com)

Ingredients:

For a wedding cake (or most of one, depending on the size)
2 cups of egg whites (approx. 12 large)
3 cups sugar
5 cups butter, softened (2 1/2 pounds, 10 sticks)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract

For a 9-inch cake (plus filling, or some to spare)
1 cup sugar
4 large egg whites
26 tablespoons butter, softened (3 sticks plus 2 tablespoons)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Whisk egg whites and sugar together in a big metal bowl over a pot of simmering water. Whisk occasionally until you can’t feel the sugar granules when you rub the mixture between your fingers.

Transfer mixture into the mixer and whip until it turns white and about doubles in size. (Here’s a tip: when you transfer to the mixer, make sure you wipe the condensation off the bottom of the bowl so that no water gets into the egg whites. This can keep them from whipping up properly.)

Add the vanilla.

Finally, add the butter a stick at a time and whip, whip, whip.

 

The Lee Brothers New Cookbook- Charleston Kitchen

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About a year and a half ago, I had the immense pleasure of working with the Lee Brothers for a week while they did the food photography for their new cookbook- Charleston Kitchen.  Well, the book has finally come out, and we went to a small launch party last night where I got to see it for the first time.  It is spectacular!  I think I am probably the reason behind the amazingness of it, what with my excellent dish washing skills and being a superb errand girl.   But really, the book is beautiful, the recipes are amazing, and the history and storytelling make it wonderful even if you don’t like to cook.  Here is a sample recipe for an amazing salad.  This is a must-have for all kitchens!

A New Ambrosia

Ambrosia is the name of a cold, sweet, chunky salad found in most southern cafeterias. We’ve reinvented it from top to bottom.

The original ambrosia calls for canned tangerine segments, canned pineapple chunks, mini-marshmallows, shredded coconut, and mayonnaise. It is bracingly sweet, but we often find it served, bizarrely enough, as a side dish with the main course, which seems out of whack – a salad created for someone who’d rather eat dessert first. But the idea of “a food for the gods” – a cool, creamy salad that isn’t coleslaw – appeals greatly to us, so we fiddled with the elements and came up with something new.

Here we substitute fresh grapefruit and orange for the canned tangerines and crisp cucumber and celery for the pineapple. Chopped avocado provides the soft creaminess of the marshmallows in the original. There is no mayo here, but instead a brisk dressing of buttermilk, lime juice, tarragon, and garlic, with the gentle sweetness of shredded coconut (a direct carryover from the original). It’s a salad with beautiful contrasting textures, pretty colors, and bright flavors. This ambrosia is as crunchy and cool as coleslaw but with herbal notes instead of vinegary ones. Like coleslaw, it’s brilliant paired with anything fried or spicy. Sometimes we serve a scoop of New Ambrosia over a small bed of arugula as the salad course in a larger meal.

Ingredients:

For the Salad

1 large grapefruit, supremed
1 large navel orange, supremed
3/4 chopped celery (about 2 stalks)
1 1/4 cups finely dices Haas avocado (about 1 avocado)
1 1/2 cups seeded and chopped cucumber (about 1 large cucumber)
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced

For the Dressing

2/3 cup buttermilk
2 Tablespoons lime juice
1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, mashed to a puree
1 Tablespoon plus 1 tsp finely chopped fresh tarragon
2 Tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut (or 1 Tablespoon plus 1 tsp sweetened shredded coconut)
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

In a large bowl, combine all the salad ingredients.

In a medium bowl, whisk the buttermilk, lime juice, and olive oil until blended.  Whisk in the garlic puree, tarragon, coconut, salt and pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss.

If you wish, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 1 hour to cool the salad and allow the flavors to meld.  Toss again before serving, and serve with a slotted spoon.

 

The Oscars and Brownies

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I did not stay up to watch the Oscars.  I wanted to, and I planned to, but I fell asleep putting Walker to bed.  To be honest, I really haven’t seen many of the movies that were nominated, so I wasn’t totally invested.  But I really do love watching the Red Carpet and all of the glamor that goes along with it.  My favorite part usually is when they do a montage of all the past Oscar winners and movies, there are just so many great ones.  I came across a blog this morning called The History Kitchen– it is fantastic.  There is a post about Katherine Hepburn and her favorite brownie recipe.  Here is a link to the post http://www.pbs.org/food/the-history-kitchen/katharine-hepburn-brownie-recipe/.  She was such an amazing woman- outspoken, beautiful, intelligent, and witty, and I am thrilled to have found this blog and this recipe.  So, in honor of last night’s Oscars, here is Katherine Hepburn’s favorite brownie recipe.

Chocolate Brownies

Ingredients:

½ cup cocoa or 2 squares (2 oz.) unsweetened baker’s chocolate
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch of salt
1 cup roughly chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions:

Melt butter with the cocoa or chocolate together in a heavy saucepan over medium low, whisking constantly till blended. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar. Whisk in the eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, salt and walnuts. Mix well. Pour into a well buttered 8-inch square baking pan. Bake at 325 degrees for about 40 minutes till a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool completely and cut into squares. These brownies are very fudgy and may be somewhat difficult to slice cleanly; use a sharp knife and a spatula to help them loosen from the baking dish.

Red Hot Baked Apples

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Valentine’s Day is almost here, which of course means I can eat red hots all day long.  It doesn’t really, but I am using it as an excuse.  I love red hots.  They are in my top five favorite candies, and sometimes they are really hard to find.  Fortunately, they are always in the baking aisle at the grocery store to be used as decorations.  I can eat the whole container in a matter of minutes.  Here is a fantastic recipe from allrecipes.com using red hots, and it is super fun for Valentine’s Day.  There really are enough red-hot recipes out there.  Please share if you have some more!!

Red Hot Baked Apples

Ingredients:

6 apples
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup cinnamon red hot candies
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease an 8×8-inch square pan.
Remove and reserve the tops of apples. Core the apples, leaving approximately 1/2 inch at the bottom. Arrange in the baking dish.
In a small bowl, mix brown sugar, cinnamon, and red hot candies. Fill each apple with the mixture. Replace apple tops. Sprinkle the remaining mixture over the apples.
Bake uncovered in the preheated oven 30 to 35 minutes, or until apples are tender.

 

My New Favorite Appetizer

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For those of you who watched the Super Bowl last night- what did you think? For those of you who didn’t- it was a pretty interesting game- complete with a 35-minute delay because half of the stadium lights went out, which caused quite a momentum shift. Anyway- Ravens won- football is over til September.  I am ok with all of that.  What was really exciting about the weekend was that I found my new favorite appetizer.  Super easy, super delicious, and looks like you spent a lot of time slaving away in the kitchen.  Of course, it involves cheese because how could it be my favorite if it didn’t?  All you need is a little puff pastry cups- you can buy them frozen at the grocery store, some brie cheese, and some fig preserve.  Cut up the brie into little pieces small enough to fit into the pastry cups, and then add a dab of the fig preserve on top.  Then bake at 350 for 10 minutes.  So amazing!